In The Woods
by HystericalConfession
Summary: Jack takes his girlfriend Rose to an abandoned cabin for what he thinks will be a romantic getaway-but Rose suddenly disappears, and when he finds her, she's not "Rose" anymore. Things quickly get bloody and out of hand; can Jack survive the night in the woods? Rated T for language and violence.


_I love Titanic… And I love the Evil Dead movies…. And I thought, well, why not just combine 'em? I won't be surprised if I don't get reviews for this since it is such a weird combo, so this is for pure fun :] Definitely doesn't stay true to Titanic, but stays mostly true to the first two Evil Dead movies except for a few parts here and there. Enjoy if you do read!_

**I don't own the movies Titanic, Evil Dead, or Evil Dead II, nor do I own Jack and Rose.**

"_**Good… Bad… I'm the guy with the gun."**_

"You like it?" Jack murmured as he held up a necklace to his girlfriend, a heart-shaped locket dangling on the chain. "I found this a while ago, but I didn't just want to give it to you back at your dorm…"

Rose gazed into Jack's face, her eyes beaming with excitement. "Is this why you brought me out here to this cabin?"

He gave her a curt nod and leaned forward to latch the gift around her neck. "I know it's not much, but I still wanted to give you something for our one-year anniversary."

"I love it, Jack," Rose whispered, her fingers reaching up to stroke the locket as it rested against the warm skin of her chest. Jack responded by pressing his lips against hers, resulting in a loud giggle from Rose.

An ear-splitting crash pierced the cabin's silence. Jack ripped his lips off of Rose's mouth and whirled around to find the source of the noise: an enormous branch had busted out the window of the room, a tree's leafless limb now resting in the middle of the floor. Rose jumped back until she was against the nearest wall, her chest rising and falling quickly as she sucked in breath and hurriedly exhaled it.

"Jack… Why on earth—" Her hand flew up to her mouth, her sea green eyes focusing on her boyfriend and growing wider by the second.

The blond teenager carefully stepped over the tree branch and peered out of the broken window, a strong wind whipping his face and tossing his hair all around. It was a dark night, the moon hidden behind thick clouds and the stars absent from the black sky. Jack strained his eyes in the darkness in hopes of finding anything—but what exactly was he looking for, really? An axe murderer? He hadn't a clue—but there was nothing in the wilderness; only trees, dirt, and the path leading miles away from the highway to the abandoned cabin.

Jack ducked his head back into the room and turned to face Rose, whose face was painted with an expression of sheer terror. "I didn't see anything, honey… I don't know, maybe it was just an animal that broke the branch. Hell, the wind was pretty powerful, coulda just blown the sucker right off the tree; all the trees seem dead around here anyway…" He crossed over to Rose and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him; she buried her face in his plaid shirt, trying her best to shrink her body into his. Jack laughed, running his fingers through her long red curls. "I dunno why you're so scared, babe, there wasn't anything out there."

"I just… Don't like loud noises, I guess."

"It's fine, honey. You'll be okay." He peeked over his right shoulder again to look at the mysterious branch, but saw nothing that hadn't been there before. Was it any reason for either of them to get so spooked about? It was an old cabin, they were old trees, and the glass must've been thirty, forty years old—

A loud banging erupted from somewhere else in the cabin, and Rose screamed into Jack's chest. Jack gently gripped Rose's forearms and pushed her away, his face serious and his lips stretched into a thin line.

_"Stay here. _I'll be right back, I'm going to go see what that was—"

_"Jack, no!"_

"I'll be back, Rose!" He quickly pecked her cheek and bolted out of the room and down the hallway, surveying the wooden floors and walls for damage or any sign of… well, _anything._

But there was nothing. No scratches, no dents, no claw marks.

Jack's heart pumped fast and hard in his chest, pounding against his ribcage; his blood surged through his veins, adrenaline and fear spreading throughout his body. _What was going on?_

In a room further down the hall, his blue eyes caught sight of movement. He rushed inside, the blood roaring in his ears, to discover the cabin's cellar door rising and slamming against the floor, though there was no human or animal causing the motion. Jack froze in the doorway, his gaze glued to the door, his feet stuck and unable to move.

_Holy hell—_

A sudden, terrified screech coming from the back of the cabin sliced through the air. With a sinking stomach, he forced himself to run, run, run back down the hallway and into the room where Rose had been, the unexplainable slamming of the cellar door now long forgotten in his mind.

_Rose, was Rose okay, what happened—_

Jack rushed into the room, his breathing wild and ragged. _Where was Rose, was she okay, where—_

Rose was gone.

The titanic tree branch still lay on the floor, wind still blew through the open window, and broken glass still scattered the room. But Rose was gone, vanished.

Jack leaped over the tree limb, throwing himself out of the window, and landed on his feet in the dead grass outside, his heart beating so loud he could barely hear anything above it. Clouds darkened the already ebony night, casting frightening shadows throughout the forest in front of him. His eyes flew past everything in sight, searching for the slightest movement, the dimmest reflection of her pale skin, the fuzziest vision of her crazy red curls.

_"Rose!" _

No response.

Panic growing inside him like a fungus, Jack darted to his left, screaming his girlfriend's name and straining his eyes to look for any clue of her presence.

_"Rose, where are you?"_

Oh God, why had he chosen a fucking abandoned cabin hidden in the woods for a romantic weekend? Why couldn't he have just bought her an expensive dinner and taken her back to his dorm for a movie night like his friends did with their girlfriends? _Why?_

A booming voice cut through the eerie air of the night, resonating throughout the trees. _"Join us."_

Jack screeched to a halt, his ears alert and perked.

_"Join us."_

The crunching of dead leaves behind him caused to him to whirl around, coming face to face with Rose.

But it wasn't… Rose.

Her bluish-green eyes now held no iris, no pupil—just whiteness. The skin of her face no longer reminded one of porcelain; it was gray, with long, bleeding scratches lining her cheeks and forehead. Her lips were bloated, her chest stained crimson from what Jack could only assume was blood.

_What the hell?_

"Rose." He lifted a hand, his fingers reaching for her left cheek. "What happened…?"

Her mouth suddenly curled upward into a snarl, a deafening growl bursting out of her throat. _"Join us!" _Her hands flew up to Jack's neck, her fingers brushing against his skin, but he jumped backward, nearly tripping over a fallen tree branch.

_"Rose, what the hell—"_

_ "JOIN US!"_

_ "What's happening to you?" _Jack broke into a sprint, struggling to keep back frightened tears. That thing back there was _not _his girlfriend. That monster was _not _Rose.

_"Join us, Jack! Join us!" _Rose stumbled behind him, her lips stretching into a menacing grin as she let out a high-pitched, evil laugh. _"We're gonna get you!"_

His lungs screamed for oxygen and pain shot through his legs every time his feet hit the dirt, but he couldn't stop running, he couldn't slow down. He didn't know what that creature was, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it wanted to kill him, even if it looked like Rose.

_Rose. _What had happened to her? Why was she like that? Had she been attacked?

_"We're gonna get you, Jack!"_

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing nothing but looming trees and brown grass, but when he turned his head back around, there was Rose, standing right in front of him. His feet struggled to come to a stop to not crash into her, his heartbeat speeding up in his chest and his limbs stiffening.

Rose cocked her head to the side, her grin growing even wider. _"Join us, Jack." _Her deep voice echoed loudly in the night air, surrounding Jack like he was prey. _"We'll swallow your soul." _She lunged forward, one hand swinging at his face and scratching his cheek. Blood spilled out of the fresh wound, drops trickling down his neck and dripping onto his red-and-white shirt. He stumbled away from Rose, his mind going crazy.

Should he run away? Does he attack her instead? Was this really Rose, and could he get her back somehow? _What the fuck was this monster anyway, a demon?_

Her hands reached for his neck again; he curled his fingers into a fist and clocked her in the head in response, knocking her over. She growled in pain, her white eyes locking on Jack, and he dashed away in the opposite direction, not sure where he was going, just knowing that he had to get away from her.

"Maybe I can make it back to the highway—" he mumbled, his lungs tightening up. The air sliced his nostrils as he inhaled, his body begging for rest, but he couldn't stop—he'd be killed. By his own girlfriend, who was now…a demon, he supposed.

A demon.

A small building came into his line of vision, a shining beacon of home in the terrifying night. Jack threw open the door and raced inside, his fingers finding a light switch in the darkness. Light flooded the tiny space, revealing that the building was a toolshed. Shelves were nailed to the walls, holding a rifle, a chainsaw, and various wrenches and handsaws; a long, white table stood in the middle of the room, thick straps attached to the sides. It reminded him of an autopsy table or an ambulance bed.

The door flew open, and Rose's leering smile peered inside, her red curls matted to the sides of her head with sticky blood. _"Found you, Jack."_

Jack backed away, fear and panic mixing with adrenaline in his blood and fueling his exhausted body. "Rose, stop…"

_"Join us."_

"Rose, I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry I brought you out here, please stop—"

_"I'll swallow your soul!" _She threw herself at Jack, but tripped over a leg of the white table and came crashing to the floor, her head smashing into the wooden floor. Jack seized the opportunity to grab the chainsaw resting on the top shelf and pulled the starter rope; a near-deafening buzzing instantly filled the room.

"I'm sorry, Rose." Jack stomped his foot on her chest to prevent her from getting back to her feet and leaned close to her with the chainsaw; gooey blood and shreds of skin flew into the air as the blade made contact with her neck. She squirmed under the weight of his foot, her mouth stretched open in a shriek. Pain tugged at Jack's heart, but his mind kept murmuring that this _wasn't _Rose anymore; it was a demon.

The chainsaw blade finally broke through the last of her skin and bones and muscle. Her head rolled on the floor away from her body, the horrified, demonic expression still on its face. Beads of sweat rolled down Jack's forehead and cheeks; his arms and shirt and jeans were drenched in Rose's blood—but it was better than his own.

A sudden thought broke through his mind—was decapitating her enough? Or would she come back?

He stared at her lifeless, headless body bleeding out on the floor, his mouth twisted up into a grimace. Even though it wasn't his Rose anymore, he still hated the thought of further mutilating what had been her body; he couldn't do it.

He couldn't dismember her.

Kicking the shed door open, he stepped out into the heavy night of the air, the hot oxygen filling his nostrils and burning his throat and lungs. Images of memories flashed through his head: the day he met Rose in their biology class; their first kiss at a party; the first time they made love, and how their scents and sweat mingled together as their bodies lay next to one another in his too-little bed.

And that's when the pain really hit.

His fingers released their grip on the handle, and the chainsaw tumbled to the ground, falling over on its side in the dirt. Hot tears began to pour down his cheeks like a waterfall; had he really just murdered his own girlfriend?

_Come on, Jack, that wasn't Rose—_

_ But it had her body! Her face—kind of!_

_ That thing wasn't Rose. It took over Rose. She was already dead before you brought out the chainsaw._

_ No! I don't care! That had been my Rose!_

His Rose. Gone now—even if she had been gone before he cut her head off. His face crumpled as his crying became louder.

_Rose…_

_ "Jack!" _

He whirled around at the sound of his name, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. Rose's eyes shifted in her skull to look at him, almost whiter than before.

_"Oh, Jack…"_

She wasn't dead.

Her body suddenly came rushing out of the shed, carrying a handsaw.

_She wasn't dead._

The handsaw snagged the sleeve of Jack's shirt, ripping a piece of fabric off. Blood was continuing to spew out of her open neck, gushing down her chest and arms and staining her pure white dress. The saw again reached forward, this time catching Jack's arm and slicing a long wound in his skin. He winced and jumped back, grabbing the chainsaw out of the grass and bringing it to life.

_"We'll swallow your soul, we'll swallow your soul!"_

"Shut up, Rose!" Jack lifted the chainsaw and brought it down on Rose's already open wound, the blade tearing through tissue and bone. Crimson liquid shot everywhere, covering his face and arms and the saw blade. Her hands dropped the handsaw and flailed about uselessly, while her head stared in shock from where it lay in the shed.

The chainsaw made it down to Rose's navel when her upper body split apart entirely and fell over, slinging blood all over the dead grass. Her lower body was still connected at the hips and twitched on the ground until it finally stopped. Jack peeked at Rose's head in the room; her eyelids were closed, hiding away her white eyes, and her lips were parted, a dribble of blood staining her chin.

It was finally over.

With a loud huff, Jack set down the chainsaw and used the palms of his hands to wipe away the blood dripping down his face. Exhaustion tugged at his limbs and he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep—but he couldn't do that. He had to get out of here.

Where would he go? He sure as hell couldn't go back to the cabin—who knew what would be back there, more demons?

His feet began walking past the shed and found the dirt trail that led to the highway. Just a couple of hours ago he had been kissing Rose and reminding her how much he loved her; now she was dead and mutilated, and he was drenched in her blood. The sky had lightened up just the tiniest bit, but it wouldn't be morning for another several hours—and Jack had no idea what else could be in this seemingly haunted forest, but he had to find a way out, and right now the best bet was the trail.

He found it strange how there weren't any animals in the forest; it was just pure silence, louder than Rose's screams and the roaring of the chainsaw.

Until he heard a whirring noise behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and saw nothing. It couldn't be Rose, she was definitely _dead. _A gust of wind blew his blond locks forward, and he turned around again—and again spotted nothing.

_"Join us."_

It was a different voice now—still deep and evil, but not Rose's voice. It whispered the words again in his ear, and Jack took off running for the hundredth time that night, fear surging through his body even stronger now because he couldn't _see _what he was trying to escape from. The wind appeared again, powerful and forceful now, knocking him into a mud puddle. Dirty water splashed all over his clothes, mixing with the blood and sweat. Jack flipped on his back and began to scoot away from the wind, the _force, _any hint of strength and courage he had had previously vanished now. A pair of red eyes glittered above him, a set of yellow teeth floating underneath them; was this what Rose had seen before she transformed?

For the first time that night, Jack let out a bloodcurdling scream.

_"Join us."_

The force flew into his mouth and down his throat, scorching his insides like flames. Jack's eyes rolled back into his skull and his fingers dug into the muddy earth, his legs twitching and splashing more water around. He could feel himself losing consciousness as the force spread throughout his body like a poison, burning away any sense of his identity.

His eyes rolled forward into normal position again. There was no pupil or blue iris.

Just whiteness.


End file.
